We should have more games where Alex dispenses with the preamble to get more clues in.

Just when I was wondering why Austin's DD wager in the Venus category was so . . . Venusian by his previous standards, he goes and makes an FJ wager far beyond the cover bet that most of us were probably expecting. It was even a little reckless in that it exposed him to a loss in the event of a double-stumper if Amy didn't go all-in. But then again, he's now 6 for 6 on FJ's so he probably wasn't taking much of a risk. He's also 12 for 13 on DD's. And his Coryat was $23,800, following a $23,600 in Monday's game. In other words, Austin is playing at a very high level in all phases of the game. The Jeopardy! Fan now gives him an astonishing 60.14% chance of winning a total of at least 11 games, and assesses his average expected number of wins as 15. If he loses on or before November 3, I think I would have him as a platinum in the TOC.

Like MarkBarrett, I got stuck in Europe on the FJ, but I went with De Gaulle rather than Churchill. Once Alex started his explanation in the reveal, I knew who we were going to end up with.

Minor quibble: Austin was credited with "Mons Olympus" for "Olympus Mons" as the famous Martian volcano. I've only ever heard it as Olympus Mons. Does flipping the words make a material difference? Would it be like calling a certain Earthly peak "2K" or "Austen-Godwin"?

If he loses on or before Nov. 3, I still give him absolutely no chance to win this year's TOC at least not without a time machine. It was filmed a week or so ago.

Yeah, but Austin would have taped his run several months ago, so unless he's still winning and taping, it depends on where they put the cutoff.

I'd guess they'd put the cutoff immediately before the ToC airs. Jeopardy! likes to maintain this perception that we're not actually seeing shows that were taped months previously, as we all know!

Did they really accept Eros as the winged son of Venus and Vulcan? Roman dieties, so only the Roman name of Cupid should be correct.

This wasn't one of those categories or clues that specified you had to give either the Greek or Roman name (Cf. the clue asking for the Greek counterpart to Venus as the goddess of love), so either is good.

Sorry, but I disagree. The Greek names in the clue narrow the answer to Greek only, not Roman. Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. The son of Venus and Vulcan is Cupid.

What makes it even worse is that that $1600 swing (even without a possible rebound by one of the other players) turned out to be the difference between a competitive finish and a runaway by Austin. As it happened, his sole get in FJ would have won anyway; but if he had missed the question and lost, I think he would have had legitimate grounds for a protest.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm four months late to the party on this one. Did anyone see a way to eliminate F.W. de Klerk on this FJ!? He was president when apartheid was dismantled, and the quote referenced in the clue seems like a statement that would be much more impactful coming from a white politician.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm four months late to the party on this one. Did anyone see a way to eliminate F.W. de Klerk on this FJ!? He was president when apartheid was dismantled, and the quote referenced in the clue seems like a statement that would be much more impactful coming from a white politician.

Provide proof that he said that exact quote and you got yourself a consideration. Otherwise, I have a very easy way to eliminate de Klerk.

"Jeopardy! is two parts luck and one part luck" - Me

"The way to win on Jeopardy is to be a rabidly curious, information-omnivorous person your entire life." - Ken Jennings

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm four months late to the party on this one. Did anyone see a way to eliminate F.W. de Klerk on this FJ!? He was president when apartheid was dismantled, and the quote referenced in the clue seems like a statement that would be much more impactful coming from a white politician.

Provide proof that he said that exact quote and you got yourself a consideration. Otherwise, I have a very easy way to eliminate de Klerk.

It sounds like something said in an inaugural address...which is exactly what it is.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm four months late to the party on this one. Did anyone see a way to eliminate F.W. de Klerk on this FJ!? He was president when apartheid was dismantled, and the quote referenced in the clue seems like a statement that would be much more impactful coming from a white politician.

Provide proof that he said that exact quote and you got yourself a consideration. Otherwise, I have a very easy way to eliminate de Klerk.

I wasn't suggesting that my response was correct. I was trying to figure out if there was some logical way to choose Mandela over de Klerk based on the information in the clue.